Changing the World
by xXChiasaHimuraXx
Summary: Crow is fed-up with the way Kalin is running the Enforcers! What happens when he walks away? I know it doesn't follow the show to the letter. Sorry.
1. Chapter 1

Author's Notes: New story! Yay! Don't worry people, I haven't forgotten about the other one I have going on here, just thought I'd get a second one going since, once again, this has been written for quite some time.

Enjoy^_^

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><p><strong>Changing the World, Chapter One<br>**

_Crow's Point of View_

"I've just about had it, Martha!" I slammed my fist into the kitchen table. "I can't stand what Kalin's done to the Enforcers! We started out helping people by eliminating duel gangs, and now we've turned into the kind of scum we worked so hard to get rid of in the first place!

"So what do you plan to do about it?" I couldn't believe how calmly she said that; it was like she was talking about a stray cat or something.

"Whadaya mean? What the heck am I supposed to do about it?" I came to her for advice why, again?

"Gandhi once said, 'Be the change you want to see in the world'. - "

WHAT? Why would she quote some dead guy at a time like this? "How in the world does that even apply to - ?" I interrupted her, but then, turning from her work making lunch, she interrupted me right back.

"I'm getting to that; learn some patience," she stated, holding up a hand to silence me. I just crossed my arms over my chest, frowned, and waited for her to continue. I can't remember a time she wasn't constantly telling me to be quiet and listen.

"What Gandhi meant by that was if you want something to change, YOU are the one who has to make it happen." She emphasized the word 'YOU' by jabbing a finger in my direction; man, I hate it when she does that! "You can't just sit around, Crow, and expect things to change; nothing good ever happened without a little hard work. You of all people should know that."

I sighed. She's right; I know she's right, and now I remember why I came to her for advice - again. "So what am I supposed to do, Martha?" My temper had cooled some so I wasn't yelling anymore, which I'm sure she appreciated.

"Unfortunately, Gandhi didn't tell us that." Martha turned back to what she had been doing and shrugged. "Some things we just have to find out for ourselves."

"Well, thanks, that's very helpful." I didn't mean to sound disrespectful or anything, but I was definitely being sarcastic with that last comment.

"You'll think of something, I'm sure. But have you even tried just talking to him about it? It can't hurt anything, after all."

"I haven't, no, but I don't even know what I'd say."

"What you told me a few minutes ago would be as good a place to start as any. Though you may want to use a different tone of voice."

I couldn't help but crack a smile at that. "Yeah. That might be a good idea if I don't want to get my face bashed in."

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><p>"Kalin! Hey, Kalin! I need to talk to you!" I called out as I arrived back at the hideout later that afternoon.<p>

"Ah, hush your yelling, Crow, I'm right here." I turned the corner and spotted the blue-haired man I used to call my friend sitting in a rickety wooden chair, his feet propped up on the sill of a window that had long ago lost the glass pane. Yeah, we were still a team, but I wouldn't call Kalin my 'friend' anymore after what he'd become.

"We need to talk," I repeated stopping only about a foot from where he sat.

"So you've said," Kalin replied in a bored tone. "Can we get on with it then?"

The hair on the back of my neck stood on end. The Kalin I used to know would never have replied that way. "It's about the Enforcers..."

"What about us?"

I took a deep breath, summed up all my courage, and started into the battle. "This isn't what I signed up for." He gave me a look the equivalent of 'What the heck are you talking about?' so I continued. "I don't know how to say this any less bluntly, but can't you see what's happening here? _We_ are the ones bullying kids now; we've become exactly what we set out to get rid of in the first place."

"Ah, Crow," Kalin replied, standing up to face me. "You're so naive. Don't YOU see? By annihilating all duel disks but our own, we're simply ensuring that no gang can reform. We haven't turned into bullies." His words wouldn't have pissed me off quite so much if he hadn't been looking at me like I was five while he said them. I lost my temper then, which is exactly what I had hoped wouldn't happen.

"Look here, Kalin! You'd have to be completely blind to not see what's happening! Or have you not noticed how people purposely walk on the opposite side of the street to avoid any contact with you? I can't believe anyone could be so - !"

"Then why haven't Jack and Yusei said anything?" His still uninterested tone combined with his cutting in only set me off more.

"Why do you think? They're scared of you, Kalin! Yes, scared! And why? Because of what you've become: a monster! Don't you see that?" By now I was really fuming.

I couldn't believe my eyes when his only response was to brush by me and start walking from the room. Before he disappeared, he stopped in the doorway I had come in through moments before, and said in as a bored of a tone as he had maintained throughout our conversation, "You don't have to stay, Crow; no one's making you. If you want to leave, then fine; go. But if not, then I suggest you stop trying to tell me what to do." Then he was gone.

I still couldn't believe this was the same Kalin I used to call my friend. But this I did know: if things didn't change, and soon, then the Enforcers would be minus one Crow Hogan.


	2. Chapter 2

Author's Notes: Okay, so one person reviewed so I will keep my promise and post the second chapter of three. Have at it^_^

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><p><strong>Chapter Two<strong>

"Go ON! GET OUT OF HERE!" I yelled. I couldn't believe it: the guy Kalin had sent me after was just a kid; he couldn't have been much older than some of the kids Martha took care of. He scrambled up and sprinted away as Yusei came up beside me.

"Why'd ya let him get away?" he asked. He was just like Jack; couldn't see what Kalin's real intentions were. I turned away so angry at the world and thrust my fist into a brick wall. "Hey, you ok, Crow?"

"No, I'm NOT!" I didn't mean to yell at my best friend, but I couldn't help it. I turned back around to face him. "Don't you see, Yusei? Don't you see what Kalin's doing?"

Before he had a chance to respond, there was a commotion from not far away. We both took off towards it, darting threw the same hole in the chain-link fence that kid had disappeared threw a moment earlier. I had a bad feeling about what was going down, and as we stumbled on the scene, it was evident that I had reason for it.

"That'll teach you to run from the Enforcers!" Kalin sneered, his foot inches from that same kid's face that I had let escape. That was it; that was the last straw. I took off running again from where I had skidded to a halt and knocked Kalin away from the poor kid with a flying tackle. We would have been in an all-out fist fight in moments if it hadn't been for Yusei and Jack; Yusei had me while Jack held Kalin back.

"Lemme go, Yus'! Lemme GO!" It took a minute but eventually Yusei let go of my arms; they had started going numb from the way he had held them.

"I'm done, Kalin! I won't do this anymore! You hear me? I'm done terrorizing kids!" Before anyone could say anything else, I turned and walked away down the alley. I didn't know if Jack and Yusei would stay, but I sure as heck wasn't. I got my answer a moment later as I heard another pair of footsteps behind my own. I glanced back just in time to see Jack turn a corner; I knew where he'd go. He'd always liked an old stage theater near the center of Satellite. If - and it was a pretty big IF - Yusei left too, I knew he had a couple of friends that lived in an old subway station that he could stay with. But me? I didn't know where I was gonna go. 'Guess I'll just wander around for awhile,' I thought, shoving my hands into my pants pockets and wincing at the pain in my right hand.

I didn't intended to go there, but somehow I found myself at the Daedalus Bridge; I always did like this spot. It gave me hope that one day Satellite and New Domino City would be connected even though this bridge had been here for years, untouched.

I turned my head, glancing down an alley at the sound of kids playing. There were about ten of them, all running around and splashing in the puddles still standing from the previous night's rain. The oldest couldn't have been more than ten or eleven years. I thought back to when that would have been me; me, Jack, Yusei, Jori, Kena, and Keoka. I sighed. Why couldn't it have stayed that way? Why did everything always have to change? Why did everything good that happened always have to turn 180 degrees back to something worse? I don't know why I even try; nothing ever seems to get any better...

Some one called out to the kids, snapping me back to the present. I hadn't seen anyone old enough to have a voice that deep, but then a figure stepped out of the shadows of the one of the dilapidated buildings. He was tall and muscular with wild brown hair and stubble on his chin. From that distance, I couldn't tell what color his eyes were, though they were dark. He said something to them in a voice too low for me to hear, but the kids obviously weren't happy; they all sighed and grumbled and I heard a few of them whine, "Aww! But why Big Brother?"

At first I thought he hadn't noticed me standing there, watching, but then his eyes locked with mine. Without breaking his gaze, he came towards me, stopping about ten feet away.

"Hey! Aren't you part of the Enforcers?" he called out accusingly. So that's what he must have said to those kids: 'It's time to go'. He was taking them away from here because of me. I made a silent note to thank Kalin for that the next time I saw him.

I shook my head and sighed. "Not anymore." He visibly relaxed at that revelation, though not completely; he was still on guard for the safety of those kids, and I couldn't blame him for it.

"Good to know. Where you headed?"

"Nowhere."

"Why'd you leave?" Man, this guy is nosy!

"Couldn't stand what Kalin was doing." I shook my head again. "It wasn't always like this, you know."

"I know; I remember. I used to admire the Enforcers for taking out the duel gangs that were terrorizing everyone. You guys were making some good out of bad situation." Wow, wasn't expecting that. "The name's Pearson." He stepped closer, offering his hand for me to shake. "Robert Pearson."

"Crow Hogan," I replied, closing the distance to shake his hand. He didn't let go though; instead, he turned his wrist so the top of my hand was facing up. I hadn't thought about it before, but the knuckles of my right hand were swollen. And of course that was also the hand Pearson was staring at as he raised and eyebrow and asked, "What did you do? Punch a wall or something?"

"Actually, yeah," I replied as he let my hand fall. "That was kinda part of the breaking point today."

"So what happened anyway?"

"It's a long story... very long story... "

"Say, you got somewhere to stay?" Well that wasn't an abrupt change of subject or anything.

"No... Not really... "

"Then you'll have plenty of time to explain. C'mon." He clapped a hand on my shoulder and started back down the alleyway towards the group of kids still waiting for him there. I didn't have much choice; it was either go with Pearson - someone I knew nothing about - or freeze on the street somewhere in the autumn chill. Night was coming on quickly now, and Pearson looked back at me as he reached those kids. I made up my mind and followed him down the darkening street.

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><p>Author's Notes: Yeah, I know this wasn't how Crow met Pearson, but this si just how it worked out best for my story. Sorry.<p>

Anyway, review if you wanna see how this whole thing ends^_^


	3. Chapter 3

Author's Notes: Well, regardless of the fact that no one has reviewed, I decided to just finish this anyway. So have at it.

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><p><strong>Chapter Three<strong>

When we arrived at our destination, I was surprised at how much it was like Martha's place. Most of the buildings in Satellite are crushed together with only a tiny bit of space between them, but this building was set apart from that by a grassy area. Before we had even reached the door, Pearson had told the kids (there were 3 girls and 5 boys I knew now) to get dried off and go to bed. We stepped inside, and the kids went off in one direction, Pearson in the other with me following behind. Sitting at the kitchen table, I told him what had happened in the last few months while he tried to carefully bandage my swollen hand.

"... I wasn't intending to end up down there; it just kinda happened that way," I concluded as he finished with my hand.

He didn't say anything for a moment, but when he did it was a complete change of subject - again. "I'd better get some ice for that," he commented as stood from the table. He went over to an ice chest in the corner, filled one of those plastic bread sacks with ice, wrapped it in a towel, came back over and placed it gently on top of my now wrapped knuckles.

"How much do you know about engines?" Man, this guy is the king of random.

"Some." I shrugged. "Why do ask?"

"Well, these kids and I have a bit of a project going: building an engine from junk. I'd be glad for any help you could provide."

"You mean you want me to stay here?" I could hardly believe it; I barely knew this guy.

"You mean Crow's gonna be our big brother too?" We turned to face the doorway and saw eight little faces peering at us.

"I thought I told you to go to bed." His voice was stern, but there was a smile playing around the corners of his mouth as well. All the kids giggled and smiled back. "And only if he wants to stay. So, Crow? You gonna stick around or keep wandering?"

When Pearson put it that way, the choice was obvious. I didn't want to be back on the streets, fending for myself, alone. Not to mention I'd already fallen in love with these kids in the short time I'd gotten to know them in. "Well, it's not like I have anywhere else to go anyway."

"YAY!" Next thing I knew I had eight grinning kids crowded around, all trying to hug me at the same time. I couldn't help but laugh. The last time I had felt this excepted was ten years ago when I had first met Yusei and Jack. Before that I had been on my own, fending for myself. But things change; more, people change. None of us are the same we used to be. Jori lost all hope and decided suicide was the only way out of Satellite. Kena and Keoka, twins the same age as myself, disappeared without a trace not long after. And then Kalin showed up, offered us hope, and then...

"Bed. Now." Pearson interrupted my thoughts, forcing them back to the present for the second time that day. "No arguing." To me he said, "C'mon. Let's head that way too. I'll show you where you can sleep."

A moment later I found myself in a room of my own. I'd always shared with someone, except when I had wondered alone. At Martha's I had shared with Jori, and when we formed the Enforcers I shared space with Yusei. It was kind of nice being alone in this room, knowing I wasn't really alone at all, but had Pearson and those eight kids around. Despite it all, I fell asleep that night thinking, 'I wonder how long this is gonna last...'

Three Years Earlier

"Hey, Martha?" I asked, peeking my head into the kitchen. "Have you seen Jori? I can't find him anywhere."

"Last I knew he was headed upstairs," she responded without turning form her work. "That was quite some time ago, but he might still be up there."

"Thanks!" I turned and raced up the stairs to the room I shared with the rust-color haired boy. Two years older and much taller then myself, I considered the freckle-faced Jori to be the big brother I never had.

The door was closed when I reached our room. That right there should have told me something was wrong, but I shrugged it off and pushed open the door, calling, "Jori! Hey Jor - !" I cut-off mid sentence, not believing what lay before my eyes. He was still there alright, lying on the floor, an empty pill bottle next to him. My eyes went wide; I couldn't breath, couldn't think, couldn't move. I don't know how long I just stood staring before I heard footsteps in the hall coming toward me, and still I couldn't do anything.

"Did you find him, Crow?" It was Martha. Then: "Oh my - !" as she gazed at the scene. Unlike me, she didn't hesitate. Quickly, she went to his side, tried to find any sign he was still alive. After a moment she shook her head, looked up at me from across the small room. "I'm so sorry, Crow, but he's gone."

Unbidden, a tear slipped from one corner of my eye, then another and other. Martha came over to me and wrapped me in a warm embrace. I'm not ashamed to say I cried and cried that day for my friend. Suicides happen all the time in Satellite, but I never thought Jori would be one them; he was always the one telling others it had to get better.

I would cry again a few months later when Kena and Keoka would disappear. All I ever knew about what happened was that one night they were there when we all went to bed, and the next morning they were gone. If they ran away or were kidnapped, no one was ever able to find out; they left no trace of their existence behind. I'd never admit it out loud, but in my heart I had a special place for Kena; it broke my heart when she and her sister left.

Present Day

The very next day, I started helping Pearson with his research on how to make this 'junk engine' of his run. I couldn't believe how excited these kids were to build it. We didn't have any idea if we could actually make it run, but they didn't care; a 'minor detail' one the kids told me. Unfortunately, after a few weeks Pearson told me he couldn't continue with the project; it would have to be put on hold for awhile.

"But why?" I asked. "I thought it was going really well."

"It was," he responded, shaking his head. "But I don't have the resources to continue further."

"What are you gonna tell the kids?"

"Nothing. They can still build on it; that's what it's there for after all."

It wouldn't be long before I learned the real purpose of that engine.

One of the kids told me Pearson was in the workshop, and when I opened the door I saw him talking to some guy in a dark suit and sunglasses. Figuring I'd better not interrupt, I just looked on from the door, which I left open a crack. I couldn't hear what was said, but my eyes went wide when the man plopped a briefcase on one of the worktables and clicked it open to reveal a boatload of cash. They went even wider and my mouth dropped open in surprise and a little anger when Pearson closed it again, shaking his head. I couldn't believe he was refusing it! After the man had left, I entered the workshop and made a point of it.

"Why'd you refuse it? We coulda continued our research with that kind of dough!"

"Because we don't need it, Crow."

"Whadaya mean? Of course we do! To finish the engine, remember?"

"No, Crow. If it's going to be finished, it won't be with any help from the City."

"I still don't think I get it."

"It's like this, Crow. The reason I started this project in the first place was those kids. If I accepted that money, I would be going against everything I've told them. These kids need to know that being from Satellite doesn't mean they have to rely on those of New Domino for everything - for anything.

"The need to know there is hope; they need to know they can do anything they set their minds to. They need to know that all is not lost them because of a bad situation.

"They may just be the ones to change the world someday, Crow. But how can they do that when they have no confidence and think they are second-class citizens? They can't. They have to realize their full potential in order to make a difference to those around them.

"That's what this project is about; that's why I couldn't take the money."

I shook my head. "They'll still never get it, Pearson. Look where we are; everywhere you turn there's nothing but despair and hopelessness. Nothing ever gets better in Satellite, just worse; take my word for it. I've seen enough to know that hope eventually runs out. No one in Satellite is ever gonna make any of kind of difference."

"You don't know that, Crow. Maybe you should brush-up on your history; some of the most unlikely people were the ones to make the biggest impact on those around them. These kids could too.

"I believe anyone can make an impact on at least one other person; most people just don't take the opportunity. So what about you, Crow? You gonna take it or ignore it?"

"I don't know what you mean."

"Sometimes all it takes is one person willing to take a stand. Because, yes, one person can change the world, or at the very least, change one person's life. Even it you never change the world, it could be that one person's life that you made a difference in that will."

It's almost scary how alike Pearson and Martha are; they both told me the same thing: Things start to change when one person is willing to take a stand, and sometimes that one person has to be yourself.

Who knows; maybe Pearson's right and those kids will change the world one day.

And, just maybe, I will too.

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><p>Author's Notes: For the record, I'd still love it if you guys reviewed^_^<p> 


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